With all the problems he’s had with Rob Davis, police auditors and police-community relations during his term, the last thing San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed would seem to be equipped to do is weigh in on the management of another law enforcement agency. But that’s exactly what he did this week. Reed has endorsed long-shot Sheriff candidate Richard Calderon, becoming the first mayor anyone can remember to endorse the challenger to a sitting sheriff. Which has left everyone scratching their heads.

The Center For Disease Control and Prevention mobilized and coordinated our global and national efforts to contain the deadly Swine Flu pandemic. So far the efforts seem to have paid dividends, although a third wave this spring is anticipated. Another pandemic we give lip service to once or twice a year in national news stories is school and cyber-bullying. Yet, we do not seem to have the same wherewithal to develop a comprehensive and systemic approach to its eradication. In my thinking, the efforts for the pandemic of bullying should be parallel to our efforts for H1N1

Last week, the Council finally discussed my memo and voted to have staff come back with a draft ordinance for final review regarding medical cannabis. Currently, 14 states have legalized cannabis for medical purposes and 14 other states are considering legislation now. I attached a memo from the US attorney general saying that the federal government will recognize state laws regarding legalization of medical cannabis and additionally, I provided an 11-page document from State Attorney General Jerry Brown that provides guidelines to municipalities on implementing ordinances that regulate medical cannabis collectives/cooperatives.

San Jose Inside found out the hard way to be wary of press releases when they are dated April 1.

An email sent out by public relations firm owner Darlene Tenes announced that San Jose Parks and Recreation commissioner Mary Ann Ruiz had launched a last minute write-in campaign for the San Jose City Council District 7 seat currently occupied by Madison Nguyen.

And a credible-looking website on the social network Ning encouraged sign-ups and promised endorsements soon.

Elsie Aranda has not decided which San Jose City Council candidate she will endorse. Stopwatch in hand, she sits in the front row of the second District 5 candidates forum at the Mayfair Community Center, acting as moderator.

Aranda makes sure that the four people currently battling to represent San Jose’s East Side don’t go beyond their allotted speech times. It is her job to holler at candidates Xavier Campos, Aaron Resendez, J. Manuel Herrera and Magdalena Carrasco if they take too long to make their points.

City Manager Debra Figone held a press conference late last night to announce that the San Jose budget deficit, long estimated at $116 million, is the result of an accounting error and a misplaced decimal point. The real deficit is one order of magnitude smaller—just $11.6 million. Figone attributed to the error to the furloughs imposed on city employees: “With fewer employees and less time, no one has gone over the figures until now. It really does make a difference where you put the decimal point in your Excel spreadsheet.”

Mayor Chuck Reed had originally wanted to wait until November to consider a proposal to regulate medicinal cannabis collectives. Before yesterday’s vote, Reed said he wanted to see if voters would approve a state initiative that would legalize marijuana for recreational use. But after the proposal’s author, Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio, agreed to include some flexibility on zoning, taxes and the timing of the final City Council vote on the matter, Reed agreed to support it.

This just in…the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors have decided to take their concerns about “junk food” a step further. Here’s an excerpt from their next press release:
FROM THE SANTA CLARA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
SAN JOSE, Wednesday, March 31-For Immediate Release: Henceforth, all donuts, cakes, and cookies sold in Santa Clara County must remain unsprinkled.  We believe that sprinkles on donuts, cakes, and cookies entice children to eat more.  While not a part of this new legislation, bakers and cake decorators are also encouraged to refrain from using bright-colored frostings.  We recommend an increased use of white colored frostings and battleship-gray.  We thank you in advance for your cooperation.  Now go jog a few laps.

In what felt more like an elaborate editorial meeting than legal proceedings, DA candidate Jeff Rosen emerged from court on Monday morning with a new draft of his candidate’s statement, hammered into shape by the judge, his lawyer James Towery and his opponent DA Dolores Carr’s lawyer, Guyton Jinkerson. “I’m very pleased,” he said. “We won.”

That’s a somewhat subjective interpretation.

The City Manager will release the list of proposed cuts to balance the city budget today (March 29). These cuts are based on no concessions from any of the labor unions nor savings gained through outsourcing of janitorial services (among others) to save money.

Money saved from outsourcing could help pay for library hours or the aquatics program, for example. The question of concessions has been out there for months and could be included in the budget. Agreement would need to be reached in early April since layoff notices would start going out April 19. If concessions are made then some of these cuts could be avoided but in lieu of an agreement in hand here are some of the proposed/likely cuts.

A statewide labor group sent out a sharply worded letter yesterday indicating that it has blacklisted local Democratic political consultant Jude Barry and his company, Catapult Strategies. In the letter, Art Pulaski of the California Federation of Labor (CFL) attacks Barry for “supporting the efforts of an anti-union committee” seeking to qualify a so-called “paycheck protection” initiative.

Nationally syndicated New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman said that it was the most inspiring evening that he has had in Washington DC for 20 years.  Friedman had attended the awards dinner for the 2010 Intel Science Talent Search.  “It left me thinking, if we can get a few things right—immigration, education standards, bandwidth, fiscal policy—maybe we’ll be OK.”

Friedman’s column contained two stories that reflected well on San Jose.

Rather than lay off workers due to budgetary constraints, the state decided last year to impose mandatory furloughs, which effectively meant a 15 percent pay cut. These furloughs were overturned yesterday by a Superior Court Judge, Frank Roesch, of Alameda County. Some 70,000 workers at 66 agencies will now be going back to work full time. They account for about one-third of state employees who have been subject to compulsory furloughs for the past year.

DA Dolores Carr is pointing an accusatory finger at challenger Deputy DA Jeff Rosen regarding the use of San Jose Mercury News articles on his campaign website. Carr released a statement today charging that Rosen may have violated state campaign finance rules and federal copyright laws. Her campaign also said the use of the articles might be seen as an in-kind contribution that exceeds campaign contribution limits. UPDATED 1:55PM

RESPONSE FROM ROSEN CAMPAIGN POSTED FRIDAY 9AM.

At last night’s City Council meeting, Mayor Chuck Reed asked all city employees to accept a 10 percent cut to their salaries. Without this, he said, either 450 workers will have to be laid off, or hours at the city’s parks, libraries, and community centers would be “cut dramatically.” Though some City Councilmembers countered with a sliding scale proposal, the Mayor’s request received the Council’s support by a vote of 8-3. The proposed cut would affect all city workers, including police officers and firefighters.

In a surprising turn of events, newbie San Jose District 5 candidate Magdalena Carrasco has proven herself a contender by pulling impressive fundraising numbers since February.
Carrasco reported yesterday that she’s raised $20,647 thus far in the race, $3,925 more this quarter than her closest competitor for Nora Campos’ soon-to-be vacant seat on city council.